Section A

News 1

(1) A 9-year-old Central California boy braved strong currents and cold water to swim from San Francisco to Alcatraz Island and back.

A California television station in Fresno reported Tuesday that James Savage set a record as the youngest swimmer to make the journey to the former prison.

The TV station reported that by completing the swim, the fourth-grader student from Los Banos broke a record previously held by a 10-year-old boy.

James said that waves in the San Francisco Bay hitting him in the face 30 minutes into his swim made him want to give up.

(2) His father said he had offered his son $100 as a reward. To encourage his struggling son, he doubled it to $200.

James pushed forward, making it to Alcatraz Island and back in a little more than two hours. 

Alcatraz is over a mile from the mainland.

1. What did the boy from Central California do according to the report?

[A] He set a record by swimming to and from an island.

2. What did the father do to encourage his son?

[A] He doubled the reward.

解析:

这篇新闻主要讲的是一位九岁男孩,成功从旧金山游到监狱岛并进行往返,打破了史上挑战该项目最小的年龄纪录。第1题考查主旨,需要关注听力开头,尤其是第1句和第2句;

第2题考查细节,根据关键词reward和double就可以做出来。